空中曆險記 A Voyage in a Balloon
儒勒·凡爾納/Jules Verne
儒勒·凡爾納（Jules Verne，1828—1905），法國著名科幻小說家、冒險小說家。1863年，他憑總名稱為《在已知和未知世界中的奇異漫遊》的係列作品集一舉成名，這進一步地激發了他的創作熱情。他一生中共創作了66部小說，其中《格蘭特船長的兒女》《海底兩萬裏》《神秘島》《環遊地球80天》等風靡全球，成為家喻戶曉的作品。他以其大量著作和突出貢獻，被譽為“現代科學幻想小說之父”。
I
In the month of September，1850，I arrived at Frankfort-on-the-Maine. My passage through the principal cities of Germany, had been brilliantly marked by aerostatic balloon；but, up to this day, no inhabitant of the Confederation had accompanied me, and the successful experiments at Paris of Messrs. Green, Godard, and Poitevin, had failed to induce the grave Germans to attempt aerial voyages.
Meanwhile, hardly had the news of my approaching ascension circulated throughout Frankfort, than three persons of note asked the favour of accompanying me. Two days after, we were to ascend from the Place de la Comédie. I immediately occupied myself with the preparations. My balloon, of gigantic proportions, was of silk, coated with gutta percha, a substance not liable to injury from acids or gas, and of absolute impermeability. Some trifing rents were mended：the inevitable results of perilous descents.
The day of our ascension was that of the great fair of September, which attracts all the world to Frankfort. The apparatus for flling was composed of six hogsheads arranged around a large vat, hermetically sealed. The hydrogen gas, evolved by the contact of water with iron and sulphuric acid, passed from the frst reservoirs to the second, and thence into the immense globe, which was thus gradually inflated. These preparations occupied all the morning, and about 11 oclock, the balloon was three-quarters full；sufficiently so；for as we rise, the atmospheric layers diminish in density, and the gas, confined within the aerostat, acquiring more elasticity, might otherwise burst its envelope. My calculations had furnished me with the exact measurement of gas required to carry my companions and myself to a considerable height.